Corning Inc. gets expansion tax break

Construction materials used in Corning Inc.'s Sullivan Park expansion project beginning this fall will be free from sales tax.

Sarah Grossman

Construction materials used in Corning Inc.'s Sullivan Park expansion project beginning this fall will be free from sales tax.

The Steuben County Industrial Development Ag-ency passed the final resolution Thursday giving the company a sales tax abatement for the $300 million project.

“Corning plans to break ground within the next couple of months and begin construction of a 150,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art development building,” said G. Thomas Tranter Jr., chief executive officer, Corning Enterprises.

Corning expects to save

$3 million to $4 million in taxes, Tranter said. The company estimated costs for construction materials will range between $40 million to $50 million, he said.

The expansion will create between 300 to 350 jobs, said Jim Sherron, executive director of the Steuben County IDA.

Also Thursday, the Hornell-Corning Steuben County Empire Zone approved an application from the company to include the new building site into the existing Empire Zone footprint.

Currently, Sullivan Park buildings are designated Empire Zones. However, the new building will be located on an acre that is currently a parking lot, Tranter said.

The company's application will now be subject to a public hearing and then state approval.

If the property is designated an Empire Zone, Corning will receive a partial refund on the property taxes, Tranter said. It will take about three months to get final approval.

The company would likely save $300,000 to $400,000 over the life of the Empire Zone, which is about five years, he said.

The Empire Zone program was initiated by the state to encourage expansion of business in distressed areas of the state. In exchange, companies agree to make either a substantial investment or create jobs.

Corning's expansion project will take four years to complete, Tranter said. Included in the plans are renovations to the 280,000-square-foot development building, built in the 1960s.